America: A Prodigy of Stereotypes

“I feel bad when others are eyeing my lunch. You have no idea how many people at school want to take my lunch away,” Shuangxi replied.

"You bring your own lunch?"

Don't you have one?

“I…no,” Joe replied.

The two entered the laundromat, where Mrs. Chen was busy dealing with the problem of the coin-operated washing machine swallowing coins.

"Hello, Aunt Chen."

"Oh, Shuangxi, you came back with Qiao?"

"Joe brought you dinner, let's eat together."

Joe held up the takeout bag in his hand and waved it at Mrs. Chen.

"okay."

Shuangxi glanced at Mrs. Chen, then at Qiao. Shuangxi felt that the two of them were indeed mother and son, both of them a beat slow to react.

"Shuangxi, will you eat with us too?" Mrs. Chen asked Shuangxi.

“I can take it home to eat too; there’s a portion for me in it,” Shuangxi said, pointing to the takeout bag.

"I don't mean you're unwelcome, I'm just a little surprised. I'm very happy that you and Joe have become friends," Mrs. Chen said to Shuangxi.

"Yes, yes." Shuangxi nodded quickly.

"You guys eat first, I'll wait a bit, I need to watch the shop."

Shuangxi continued to nod.

Push open a door in the corner of the laundromat; behind the door is Joe's house.

When Shuangxi entered Qiao's house, the furnishings gave her a familiar feeling. It was just as messy as her own home, with every corner crammed with things, but there was order in the chaos.

The dining table is small, with one side against the wall and a chair on each of the other three sides.

Qiao and Shuangxi stood by the dining table, opened the takeout bag, and took out the food from the takeout box.

The moment Qiao opened the takeout box, she smelled the aroma of the food and swallowed hard.

"My cousin said that if someone suddenly feels bad, it must be because they haven't eaten well."

Qiao glanced at Shuangxi.

The two sat down at the small dining table and began to eat and chat.

"Does your family always eat dinner separately?" Joe asked curiously.

"Yes."

“My parents are used to eating after the restaurants close, which is past 10 p.m., and my stomach won’t allow me to wait until then,” Shuangxi said.

Aren't you having dinner with your cousin?

“My cousin would go have dinner with his master, and sometimes I would go with them too.”

"Your cousin's master is the owner of the pawnshop, that old man?"

"I don't think Dad has reached the point where he should be called an old man yet?" Shuangxi said hesitantly.

“I think he’s weird,” Joe said.

“Dad’s still pretty trendy; he basically knows everything you talk about,” Shuangxi said.

"for example?"

“For example, that personality test that’s popular at school. Dad took the test too, and he came out as a ‘perfect executor,’” Shuangxi told Qiao.

"What are you?" Shuangxi asked Qiao curiously.

“I didn’t do the test,” Joe replied.

“I’ve done it, more than once, but the result is different each time,” Shuangxi said.

“I think this test is just for entertainment and has no reference value whatsoever,” Joe said.

"Maybe you're right. This kind of thing isn't popular at my cousin's school, but they're doing it for real."

"What's popular with them?" Joe asked curiously.

"It's supposedly an IQ test from some club. There are two hundred questions, a time limit, and they're fill-in-the-blank, not multiple choice," Shuangxi replied.

"That must be very difficult."

“My cousin’s good friend Peter took the test and reportedly got an IQ that is among the top of human intelligence. He will be a scientist working for NASA in the future.”

"No score?" Joe asked.

"They say that grades will only alienate their intelligence."

Qiao nodded thoughtfully.

"Did your dad cook this?"

“My dad is the head chef, and my mom only helps out in the kitchen when she’s really busy.”

"My family's restaurant has two hundred dishes on the menu, and my dad can make each one in the shortest amount of time," Shuangxi said with some pride.

"That's amazing."

"Will you inherit your family restaurant in the future?" Joe asked.

I have a feeling it might?

“My dad inherited the restaurant from my grandfather. After graduating from university, my dad did other jobs, but in the end he came back to take over the restaurant. I’ll probably do the same,” Shuangxi said.

"Joe, will you inherit your family's shop?" Shuangxi asked.

"I do not know."

"Are there any special skills in the laundry business that need to be passed down?" Qiao asked Shuangxi.

"Clothing care and sewing?" Shuangxi thought hard and came up with an answer.

“I really want my mom to sell the laundromat so we can go on a trip together,” Joe said.

"Tourism? You need to transfer the shop?" Shuangxi looked at Qiao, unable to understand Qiao's thinking.

"The laundromat has trapped my mother and me here. As long as the laundromat exists, it will be more important than me."

"What would you eat if you didn't run a laundry shop?" Shuangxi asked, puzzled.

“Any job is fine as long as I don’t open a shop,” Joe said.

"Joe, we need you. We need your family's laundromat. It won't last long if someone else takes over your family's laundromat."

"Why do you think that?" Joe felt a lump in his throat, a lump that made him a little upset.

“I remember when I was very young, my grandfather passed away, and my father officially took over his restaurant. My father changed the menu, reducing it from two hundred dishes to twenty. The regular customers protested very strongly, making my father change the menu back to the original two hundred dishes. In fact, my father usually only made those twenty dishes, and no one ordered the others.”

Chapter 281 Can it be done?

It gets dark very quickly; it was still light before dinner, but it got dark after dinner.

Shuangxi and Qiao walked out of the laundry shop and headed towards their father's pawn shop.

“Have you ever been to Dad’s pawn shop? Dad’s pawn shop has lots of good stuff,” Shuangxi said to Qiao.

“I only passed by the entrance; I never went inside.”

“I saw that he hired a new employee.”

"That guy's name is Wade, and he likes to tell corny jokes," Shuangxi said.

Shuangxi and Qiao stood in front of the pawnshop, but the pawnshop was closed.

"It's too cold, Dad probably wants to rest early."

“We’ll come earlier tomorrow,” Shuangxi explained to Qiao.

“Is Dad inside? We can knock on the door,” Joe said.

“I have a feeling that Dad isn’t inside. Look, none of the lights on the second floor are on.” Shuangxi looked up at the second floor.

The lights on the second floor suddenly came on, the side door of the back alley opened, and Li Qun walked out from the side door.

"Huh? Shuangxi, and Qiao, what are you doing here?" Liqun spotted the two standing in front of the pawnshop.

"Cousin, have you and Dad been upstairs the whole time? Why aren't the lights on?" Shuangxi asked, puzzled.

"The light bulb was broken, so I changed it for my dad," Li Qun explained.

"It turns out the light bulb was broken."

"You still haven't told me what you're doing here?" Li Qun asked, looking at the two men.

“I told Joe that you’re incredibly skilled, but he didn’t believe me and wanted to see for himself,” Shuangxi replied.

"You want to see it for yourself? But the kung fu your father taught you isn't for performance," Li Qun said.

"Let's practice," Shuangxi said, walking over to Liqun.

"Here? Your clothes will get dirty, and your aunt will ask."

"Brother, go easy on me, my mom won't know."

"Let's go to the rooftop."

Li Qun turned and went inside, and Shuangxi and Qiao could only follow.

"Why are you back again? Did you forget something?" the old man asked Liqun.

"It's the two of them."

Liqun yielded, allowing his father to see Shuangxi and Qiao following him upstairs.

"What's wrong with those two?" Dad asked.

"Uh...uh..." Shuangxi didn't know how to explain it to his father, as he was somewhat afraid of his father, an elder.

"Shuangxi wants to show off his kung fu skills to his friends," Liqun said.

"No." Shuangxi shook her head.